To Know the Real Me
by Casey Storm
Summary: After all that had gone wrong in his life, Donald learned to never open up to others - to never let them see what lay beneath the exterior. But that was before he met Tasha Dooley. After making the worst first impression on her, can he still hope to win her heart? (Dasha one-shot)


**A/N:** Okay, so I thought I'd try writing a Dasha story because there just aren't that many out there yet. I'm not used to writing romantic kind of stories, so I ended up re-writing this about half a dozen times. Sadly, I still cannot find a beta-reader, so I would really appreciate you letting me know how this turned out and don't be afraid of giving any advice that might help me improve my writing.

 **COVER ART:** Photo editing/special effects by **Wintershadow35**

* * *

 **"To Know the Real Me"**

Donald glanced at his watch for the twentieth time in the past eight minutes. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He might still have time to back out, though. Come up with some excuse; then go home and spend the evening working on his modifications for the neuroscrambler. He glanced at his watch again and sighed. No, it was way too late to get out of this. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Why was he so nervous? He was Donald Davenport - billionaire, genius, and one of the smartest people alive. He shouldn't get nervous about something as silly as this. But he was. For some reason, he was really apprehensive about this evening.

He hadn't dated in a long time. Most girls were just not that interested in tech geniuses. Sure, they liked his money, but not him. After enough failed attempts at trying to meet the right person, Donald had just come to accept that she didn't exist. There just wasn't someone out there who was destined to spend their life with him. And he was okay with that. He had jets, helicopters, boats, and a huge corporate empire. He didn't need a relationship.

But that was before he'd met Tasha on that online dating website. He still wasn't entirely sure why he had joined it in the first place, but now he was glad he did. At first it had seemed like the two had nothing in common. She was a single mom working on launching her career as a news reporter; and she knew absolutely nothing about science or technology. Yet, something had just seemed right about those first few conversations. Something had just 'clicked' and they decided to get to know each other better.

Now, several weeks later, Donald was sitting in a fancy restaurant awaiting his first face-to-face meeting with Tasha Dooley. And he was scared out of his mind. He wasn't sure why, but he just really wanted to make the best possible impression on her. Did it really matter what she thought of him? Yes, for some reason, it did. This evening had to go as smoothly as possible; and Donald had taken great pains to see that it did. He'd made reservations at the best restaurant in town and Eddy had even (reluctantly) looked up good topics of conversation for the evening. Everything needed to be perfect.

The waiter approached, leading a young woman behind him. This must be her. Donald rose to greet her... and froze in his tracks.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. Dressed in a lovely evening gown with her dark hair falling loosely around her shoulders, she looked like a princess. And her eyes - they were so dark and deep and caring.

Donald tried to shake himself out of his daze. Extending a hand in greeting, he tried to come up with something clever to say. Instead, he only managed a weak, "Hi," and it came out as almost a squeak. Clearing his throat, he quickly introduced himself, "I'm Donald Davenport, you must be Tasha Dooley." _So much for a first impression._

Tasha smiled politely and accepted the handshake. "Yes, it's so nice to finally meet you."

Donald held the chair for her as she sat down. Then he took his own seat across from her. He knew he should start a conversation, but no words seemed to come to his mind. What was wrong with him?

Thankfully, Tasha jumped right in. "So, we should probably get to know each other a little better. I know you have a tech company, but what else?"

"Well, I'm currently working in collaboration with NASA on a new software that will help extensively in monitoring spaceflights. It's a major breakthrough that will hopefully limit the amount of human-error in correcting flight paths. And there's this government contract that I'm working on negotiating the details for right now. Actually, they still have to get back to me on my latest offer, but I think it's going to work out and..."

"No, Donald," Tasha said with an amused grin. "That's all very good and I'm happy for you, but I was referring to _you_ , not your company. I'd like to get to know _you_ better."

"Oh, me?" Donald shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He couldn't figure out what the problem was. Normally, he loved to talk about himself. Why did he suddenly care so much what someone else thought of him? "Well, um, I'm the owner and CEO of Davenport Technologies, as you know. I live in Mission Creek and I work on inventing things."

"What about your likes and dislikes?" Tasha coaxed.

"My likes and dislikes? Well, I like my helicopter," Donald said, trying to come up with something quick. Tasha laughed; it wasn't a rude laugh, just a polite amused sort of laugh, but it still bothered Donald for some reason. He tried again, "Um, I like music."

"You do?" Tasha said in mild surprise. "You never mentioned that before."

"Yeah, I used to take guitar lessons. Actually, my friends and I started our own singing group back in high school. But we had to end it when we each went off to different colleges."

"Oh, that's too bad. Do you still play guitar?"

"Sometimes. Not as much I'd like to. My whole family is actually into music; but we each have very different tastes as far as what we like to listen to." Why was he telling her this? He never opened up like this about his personal life. "Actually, the only common interest we all had was science. Especially me and my brother. We used to invent things all the time growing up."

"I didn't know you have a brother," Tasha said.

"Well, uh, he died quite a few years ago." Shoot, now he was letting out _very_ personal information.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No," Donald said nervously. "It's fine. Actually, we weren't very close to begin with. We'd sort of had a falling out at the time." Okay, now he really needed to stop talking. He'd already revealed way too much. "So, um, what about you? Do you have any relatives nearby?"

"Only my mother. She lives a few hours away by plane. Other than that, it's just me and Leo."

"Why don't you tell me more about Leo?" Donald asked, glad that he'd managed to deflect the conversation away from himself. Great, five minutes into the evening and it was already a disaster.

* * *

Dinner passed rather pleasantly with Donald managing to only put his foot in his mouth five more times. Just as they were finishing dessert, a brief lull in the conversation allowed him the chance to think a little about the events of this evening. He had to admit, he'd never expected Tasha to be quite like this. She was so sweet and understanding and she never once made fun of his interests or hobbies the way other people did. She probably hadn't understood one word of his explanation of the hydra-loop he hoped to build someday, but she never looked bored or asked him to change the topic. The perfect listener.

On his part, Donald knew he hadn't made anywhere near that good of an impression on her. While she had been kind and considerate, he kept tripping over his words and saying all the wrong things. And he kept falling back into talking about his work rather than himself like she wanted. And he was fairly certain that it was a bad idea to mention his favorite hobby was counting his money.

The waiter walked over to collect their plates. "Will there be anything else?" he asked.

"No, I think that's fine," Donald said, paying the check and giving the waiter his tip. "Thank you."

After the waiter walked away, Tasha said, "This has been such a lovely evening, Donald. I've really enjoyed myself."

Unsure of exactly what to say, Donald glanced nervously out the restaurant window and noticed a little park across the street. "Would you like to take a walk?" he asked. "It's nice and cool outside this evening."

Tasha smiled. "I'd like that."

They walked out of the restaurant and crossed the street to the park. It was a beautiful spring night and the trees, which were all budding early, were covered in tiny pink flowers. The full moon helped illuminate the path as they walked. For a while, they traveled in silence, drinking in the cool evening breeze that carried the scents and sounds of nature.

After awhile, Tasha spoke up quietly, "Donald?"

Curious about her tone of voice, he replied simply, "Yes?"

"I really had a good time tonight..." she began.

"I did, too," Donald said quickly.

"You did?" She looked at him with an expression he couldn't figure out.

"Yes, I really did. Why?"

She was quiet for minute before saying, "I know I'm not very smart when comes to science and technology. It's just not something I've ever been interested in before. But I hope that I wasn't too boring just because I couldn't relate in those areas."

Donald stopped walking and quickly assured her, "No, not at all. I'm sorry for talking so much about things you don't understand. It's just that those are the things my entire life revolves around. I guess I just can't help it. But you were very considerate to let me keep talking on topics you aren't even interested in. Actually, you've been very considerate all evening."

"Then what is wrong?"

"Huh?" Donald was a bit taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"All evening, you keep talking about your work and about your company. But never about yourself. And you seem uncomfortable whenever I try to ask about your life. It's okay if you're just not interested in me, Donald. I'll understand; we are completely different people with such different interests. But I really enjoyed our evening together and I want to know what I did wrong."

"No, that's not it at all. Look, I'm sorry. I know I've been messing this whole thing up since the moment we met. It's just..." Should he tell her? Never in a hundred years would he normally admit this to anyone, but this was the one exception he would make. If it turned out he was wrong, then he'd have plenty of time to regret it later. "Tasha, I don't normally feel very comfortable talking about myself to others. It's just that I have a rather complicated life and it hasn't been easy. And I've been alone for most of it. If I don't have people skills, it's because I spent my entire school life in the science lab and my college life learning about business math and engineering. I've always kept myself so focused on my career and sometimes I'm afraid that it's all I have. And when your best friend is a smart home system, you just don't get much opportunity to learn about people and real conversations."

"Your best friend is a _what_?"

"Sometimes I just feel like my genius and money are all that I have to offer others. I know that sounds bad, but it's true. People just aren't interested in me when they get to know the real me. And..." He took a deep breath before plunging into the hardest part. "And, I like you Tasha. I really like you. Since that first online chat, I knew that something was different. And then we talked on the phone and you were just so sweet and caring. I wanted so much to make a good impression on you this evening, and I know I've failed that miserably. But the reason I get so nervous about letting you get to know me is because I'm afraid you won't like what you learn."

There was a pause as they both took in what had just been said. Just as Donald was wishing that this entire evening had never happened, Tasha did the most unexpected thing. She smiled. Then she gently took his hand and looked him straight in the eye.

"Donald," she said. "I already know more about you than you think. I know you are very smart and know a lot of things that I could never begin to understand. I know you are sweet and compassionate and care more about others than you give yourself credit for. I know you are passionate about the things that mean a lot to you and that you would do anything for those that you care about. I know you have a large ego, but I also know that it covers a man who really just wants to have others like him. And I know one more thing - one very important thing. I know that I like you, too."

Donald couldn't believe he'd just heard her say those words. The last thing he'd ever expected anyone to say to him; and they'd been said by the most perfect and wonderful person he'd ever met. He reached over and grabbed her other hand, holding both hands gently in his own. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Will you give me another chance?"

She nodded, smiling softly at him. "All that I ask is that you be yourself. Never feel afraid to let me see the real you. Because I think he's pretty special. Promise?"

Donald smiled back. "I promise."

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, so what did you think? I apologize if Donald and Tasha seemed a bit out of character during this; they don't have very many moments between these characters on the show for me to use as a sort of dialogue-template, so I had to just wing it based off of their overall personalities.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts/suggestions on this.


End file.
